The US country band the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, have said they are “shocked and saddened” by the death of founding member Laura Lynch following a car crash.
“Laura was a bright light … her infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band,” the band said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the early success of the band.
“Her undeniable talents helped propel us beyond busking on street corners to stages all across Texas and the mid-West. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this sad time.”
Lynch, 65, co-founded the group – which changed its name from the Dixie Chicks in 2020 – alongside Robin Lynn Macy, Martie Erwin and Emily Erwin in 1989, as Billboard reported. She played the upright bass and was a vocalist.
Lynch recorded three albums with the Chicks between 1990 and 1993: Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, Little Ol’ Cowgirl and Shouldn’t a Told You That. Natalie Maines later replaced her.
According to a statement from the Texas public safety department that was reported by the TV news station KTSM, Lynch was driving in a pickup truck when she was struck head-on by the driver of another pickup on the US 62 highway outside of El Paso on Friday night.
The driver who struck Lynch was trying to pass another car along a two-way, undivided portion of the highway when the collision occurred, the public safety department said.
The Chicks changed their name after a white police officer’s murder of George Floyd – a Black man – in Minneapolis ignited worldwide street protests in 2020. The term Dixie is closely associated with the Confederacy, which – among other things during the US civil war – defended the legal ownership of enslaved Black people.
The Press Association contributed to this report
